Connecting the right leader to the right moment.
Approach
Cross-Sector Search for a Changing Leadership Landscape
Leaders thriving in today’s economy built their careers differently – across industries, through pivots, and beyond conventional paths. As businesses navigate increasing operational complexity, leadership requirements are evolving faster than sector-bound searches can address.
Transformational leaders are often in adjacent ecosystems, evaluating their next move on the basis of mission, scale, and impact. Our decades of cross-sector presence and trusted relationships make those introductions possible.
Two-Partner Commitment. Two senior partners lead every search end-to-end, ensuring continuity of judgment, shared accountability, and senior presence at every decision point, from scoping through onboarding.
Built For Complexity. No two leadership searches unfold the same way. Senior judgment, modern tools, and flexible capabilities keep our work adaptive and expansive as each search evolves.
The Full Leadership Landscape. We maintain an unrestricted view of the leadership market. Our off-limits commitments are search-specific rather than firm-wide, allowing us to pursue the strongest talent available.
Team
Strategists, catalysts, and doers. Trusted partners for complex leadership decisions.
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For nearly two decades, Karen has advised organizations through critical leadership moments — from startups and market leaders to philanthropic and mission-driven organizations. Her focus is building leadership teams across the C-Suite, Board, and senior leadership.
Before co-founding Ignite Agents, Karen was a Partner leading the San Francisco office at Bridge Partners, placing executive leaders nationwide across the social sector. She previously founded and led a boutique executive search and talent advisory firm advising founders, executives, and boards on leadership strategy while recruiting senior leaders to strengthen and diversify executive teams.
Prior to executive search, she worked in innovation-driven environments as an operator including venture-backed tech startups, consumer product commercialization, and education advocacy and workforce development. She began her career in global finance with ABN AMRO in Taipei, Taiwan.
Karen is active in the Bay Area community contributing to the work of community-based organizations advancing health, wellness, and education including Edible Schoolyard and The San Francisco Arts Education Project (SFArtsED). She received a BA in English from the University of Georgia and completed Stanford’s Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship (EPSE).
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Debbie leads global executive searches in both the private and public sectors, from Fortune 100 companies to universities and government agencies. She recruits senior executives across all functions (CEO, CFO, CHRO, General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer and Board Directors) in a wide variety of industries.
Before co-founding Ignite Agents, Debbie was a Partner at a boutique executive search firm, and spent over six years as a Managing Director in Major, Lindsey & Africa's in-house practice group. Prior to executive search, she was in-house counsel for Marriott International and served as General Counsel of an international restaurant chain. She began her career as an Associate at Troutman Sanders and Reed Smith.
Debbie is actively involved in the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia. She received a BA degree from McGill University and a JD from Washington & Lee School of Law, where she was on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice. She serves on the Boards of the Washington Project for the Arts (Co-chair of Governance Committee) and Norwood School (Vice-Chair & Chair of Committee on Trustees).
Focus
We operate at the intersection of mission, innovation, and markets specializing in C-Suite, Board, and senior leadership search across industries and functions. Our cross-sector presence brings three advantages to every search:
Early access to proven operators
Trusted relationships that open the right doors
Nuanced understanding of what leadership demands in different moments and contexts
Industries & Sectors
Consumer | Technology | Healthcare | Financial Services | Philanthropy & Social Impact | Professional Services